Red Bluff, California

September 16 - 23, 2008

Durango RV Resort

Happy 12th Birthday Cassidy Kristin!! It's hard to believe she's 12 years old, in 6th grade, a cheerleader and, of course, a great big sister! We Love You!!

We had a great view of Mount Shasta on the way here.

The "fog" is smoke from forest fires in the area.

Here we are at our first destination in California. We were in Oregon so long it feels strange to be somewhere else.

Durango RV Resort opened in August and is absolutely beautiful. It is situated along the Sacramento River, but we chose one of the lakefront sites for the nice fountains and besides, the river is very, very low. We are, other than the camp-workers, the only ones here! Any other coaches that come in seem to be here for the night only. The park is also situated right next to Route 5 which makes it a great overnight stop, but also creates some traffic noise, especially at night. And, there is absolutely nothing to do or see in Red Bluff, so I'm afraid the park has a couple of heavy checks against it. Put it almost anywhere else and it would be hard to get reservations.

We played the 9-hole golf course here in Red Bluff (no other public course). We almost didn't find it as there was no sign. Greens fees were $12 for 9 holes. This all should have been sending up red flags, right?! We have played worse, but this was right up there on that list.

Later in the week we played Sevillano Links (pronounced Sevi-yano), a course designed by John Daly and a part of the Rolling Hills Casino. The reasonable rates for a Class A golf course are probably due to the fact that the Casino is the big breadwinner. The green, lush holes were surrounded by yellow, hay-like grass. Ken had a fabulous day and I was again left wondering if I should continue to play this game. Someone had left a message in the greenside bunker on the 18th hole, "F--- John Daly." My sentiments exactly, except I wouldn't have used such harsh words!

We returned to the park, visited the hot tub and pool, ate pizza outside by the fountain and, right from our site, watched the Red Bluff 4th of July fireworks that had been cancelled in July due to high fire hazards. What a wonderful day!

We woke up one morning deciding we really needed to get over to the California Coast to visit the Redwoods and also to put San Francisco on our itinerary. So I spent a couple of hours in the morning reworking reservations to do just that. I have to say, this lifestyle is easily capable of plan changes so watch for future blogs on those areas. Spent the rest of the day at the pool and am starting to look like I have a bit of a tan again.

Sunrise!

We did little else the rest of our stay. We went out to dinner at The Riverside Grill and I have to say, I was disappointed again. I ordered ribs and returned the first batch as they were way overcooked. Second batch wasn't any better so I had an undercooked baked potato for dinner. We had gone to a pizza joint near the resort (I just can't call this place a campground!) a few days earlier and had veal parmigan that was delicious for $5.50. Maybe in the future we'll just stick to those pizza joints and forget the nice restaurants with the great views.

We leave in the morning for the California coast to visit the Redwoods.